American Handgunner March/April 2010

: Handgun Ammo Rightandbottomofpage:Hornady’s tAPandFPDcartridgeshave earnedawardsfromtheindustry andpraisefromusers,who asked“Canitgetbetter thanthis?”Hornady respondedwiththesenew CriticalDefenserounds,loaded withtheirhard-hittingpatentedFtX slugs.Checkthat“mushroomfarm”at right,okay?Nickelcasesandlow-flash propellantsarejusticingonthecake— oronthemushrooms,whatever… therearealotof taurusJudgerevolvers outthere,anda growingnumberof BondArmsRanger derringerstoo. Whilelotsofoutfits makedecent.45Colt roundsfor’em, FederalPremium istheonlymaker Iknowproducing .410gaugeshotshellsspecificallyforhandguns—andmakingthem uptoFederal’sPremiumPersonalDefensestandards.takeyourchoice oftwoloads:one-halfounceof#4shot,whichoughtabeoneferocious snake-shredder,orfourpelletsof000buck,sufficienttoruinanybad guy’sday.Powerfulmedicineindeed. More Flavors than the Candy PalaCe—and better in a gunFight than a gooseberry guM droP! John Connor he Golden Age of fill-in-the-blank may be a trite cliché, but if this ain’t the Golden Age of Handgun Ammo I will eat my cap, yours and Captain Bob’s too. Just lookin’ at the array of high-performance and specialized ammo for almost any application can result in a severe case of cartridge conflict, but the good news is, almost any choice you make among the premium products will be an excellent one. For example, let’s say you’re looking for low-penetration reduced-ricochet home defense ammo: frangible rounds abound, t 50 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • MARCH/APRIL2010